Windmill



P. MELN-ICK.

WINDMILL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1921. I

Patented May 30, 1922'.

ATTORNEY APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1921. 4

1,418, 1 94 I Patented May 30, 1922;

' I 3 SHEETSSHEE]' 2.

ATTC iRNEY MELNICK.

WINDM!LI..

I APPLICATION HLEDJULY 2. 1921. 1,418, 1 94:. I Patented May 30, 1922.

3 SHEETS SHEET lNV WZMZ WORN WITNESS:

' s ren To (ZZZ whom it may" concern:

earn j rri ce.

POIiIKARP mn'riivrcigor earthen", NEW Jnnsnv.

/ WINDMILLJ:

lIAll y-Tlgt.

Application filed July 2,

Be it known that l PoLrKAnr 'MnLN'io citizen of Russia, residing atCan'iden n the county of Camden and State of Jersey, have ini' 'ented new, and useful mprove'lne'nts in a if Vindrnill, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ivindrnil 's an has more particularreference to wind or the type in which the vanes er the wheel are adapted foradjustment' to accommodate varying Wi11d' velocities whereby the power produced and the work effected f are maintained at a practically constant amount.

The primary object of this inventionis to provide a windmill wherein the vanes of they wind wheel are all pivotally mounted and are adapted to be synchronously turned or feathered from inactive positionto'their maximum active position, and vice versa, said. movement being efiiected through. the wind wheel shaft. v i

Another object -01? this provision of novel power take-off mechanism which is positively actuated no matter what direction the wind takes nor how frequently it veers or changes.

A further object of my rinvention 'is to provide a windmill of light construction but great strength whereby it can withstandab normal wind and storm conditions and in as far as its power production is concerned re main unimpaired.

A. further object of this invention is to provide a windmill in which all the op r ting parts are so constructed and arranged that there will be an ininurn degree frictional retardation A. yet fu her object aimed at by this invention is to provide a windmill characterized. by a novel mea s of adjustment for rendering" the power output normally stable when once itis set in active operation.

With the foregoing and-other objects-in view as will become more clearly apparent.

from the 'fOllOWing description .my invention resides essentially in the novel features.

of construction combinations and arrangeappended claims.

w nd 1 invention is ,the'

{specification-ofIetters Patent. Patented May 30, 1922.

1921. seri 'allfl'o. 482,156.

In the further disclosure of the invention 1 re erenee isto behad' tothe accompanying sheets of explanatory drawings constitut' w a part o'f'thi's' specification, and in which like characters of referencedesflignate the same or corresponding parts in all the views Figure 1+ is an'elevation o-t myiinproved windmill with parts broken away in section for a clearer understanding thereof. Figure 2 is an enlarged face view ofth e windiwheel detached and showing the vanes inactive position. I

Figure El -is. a detail newer one of the wind wheel unitnsections with the vanes feathered or vinitull inactive position.

{Figure 4- is an enlarged detail perspeo tive view of the rear hub of the wind-wheel.

Figure 5 is a similar enlarged perspectiveview of the front hub of said win-dw'heelQ v i v r Figure is an enlarged perspective view of the center hub of the wind-wheel ort'hat part thereoi which supports the main framework in which the vanes are mounted.

, Eigure 7-. is a detailplan of an adjusting' leverhereinatter more particularly referred to. I y

I Figure 8- is a-section on the line 8 -8 in the preceding Figure.

Figure 9-.,is a detail plan of one of the vane sections and, showing its actuating lever; and, r

.IFigure 10-- is a side View of the same with foundation on which the superstructure or tower is firmly erected, said tower including a plurality orv series of upwardly conve ing columns 11 of appropriate cross section to ensure rigidity, and these columns 11 have securely fixed on their upper ends an annular ring or track 12 provided on its upper face with a groove or race 13 for an anti-friction bearing 14 of appropriate nature. Arranged for rotary movementin; a horizontal plane on the aforesaid anti-friction bearing: '14 is the turntable or mainsupporting trame glfi which is provided with 2. @depending rim 16 to prevent ingress. of dirt mounted and the like to the bearing 14, as well as to prevent any lateral displacement of said turntable relative to the track 12. It may be here conveniently noted. that the turntable is of angular cross section, the depend ing flange 16 whereof serves for centering and bearing protection purposes as above set forth, whereas the lateral flange is fitted on its underside with a bearing ring 17-of suitable material. and strength to withstand the ravages of time and weather. 7

.At diametrically opposed points on the upper side of the turntable or main frame 15 I form or fix bearings 18 which constitute journals for a horizontally disposed tubular shaft 19' later on more particularly referred to, and also supported by said turntable or [main frame 15 is a skeleton canopy or crown structure 20 supporting astaff 21" on which may be mounted a weather vane or a flag as desired.

Adj acent or abutting one of the aforesaid bearings 18 and secured thereto is one half 22 of an anti-friction collar bearing the other half 23 whereof is keyed on the tubular shaft 19 and connected 'toa miter gear 24. meshing with a corresponding gear 25, at the upper end of a vertical shaft 26 revolvably journaled at its top in a bearing block 27 carried by a/transverse beam 28 braced to the aforesaid columns 11 in any of the well known ways. This vertical shaft 26 is supported at its lower end in an anti-friction foot bearing 29 and it has securely keyed or otherwise thereon a laterally rotatable toothed-wheel 30 with which may be put in mesh either of opposed pinions 31, 32, respectively, carried by spaced vertical shafts 33, 34, supported at their lower ends on journal bearings in turn revolvably supportingthe power take-off shaft .36. Opposed miter gears 37, 38 respectively, connect up the vertical shafts 33, 34 to the power take-off shaft 36 and it is to be notedthat the pin ions 31, 32 are controlled by manually movable'clutches 39, 40, whereby either orboth of said 'pinions may be disconnected from the aforesaid toothed wheel 30 whenever desired; whilst it will be clearly understood that when one of said pinions 31, 32 is in gear with the toothed wheel 30 the power take-ofi shaft 36 will bedriven in one direction whereaswhen the other pinion is in gear the rotation of said shaft 36 will be reversed.

The aforesaidv tubular shaft 19 supports adjusted to prevent end-thrust and friction against the abutting bearing 18 as will be obvious to those acquainted with the art to which this invention appertains.

The wind-wheel proper includes an inner hubportion or frame'support 42, and front and rear spaced hubs or bracing collars 43,

.ted the arms or spokes 47 of the wind-wheel bolts or the like 48 serving to attach said parts rigidly together. These arms or spokes 47 are made of appropriate material and each adjoining pair are braced by light tie rods 49Figure 3as well as serving as supports-for tangentially disposed and freely pivoted spaced rollers 50, 50 and 50 The rollers 50*, 50 and 50 carry the "wingsor vanes 51 which are preferably made of stronv sheetmaterial' of even gauge and curve cross sectionas shown by Figures 3 and 9, said rollers respectively carrying two, four and six wings or vanes 51 arranged to break joint so that a maximum windsurface is presentedwhen' the vanes are in ac tive position, and no interfering air pockets can be created. Completely surrounding'the wind wheel and firmly-'secured to the aforesaid arms or spokes 47 is an annular band 44' and riveted or otherwise connected into the holes 54 therein, said hub or bracing-1collar 44 being securely attached tothe hollow or tubular shaft 19 in any of the well known ways. The front hub or bracing collar 43 is 'or rim 52 whilst rear tie-rods or braces 53 connect w1th the rear hub or bracing collar the flanged portion whereof are formed or I fixed opposed eye bearings or laterally projecting lugs 56 between which are pivoted at 57 angled levers the longer arms 58 where of are horizontally directed inwards whereas the shorter arms 59 are vertical and provided at their free ends with anti-friction rollers60 that co-operate with a channeled collar 61 securely fixed to the outer end of a solid shaft 62 longitudinally movable within the hereinbefore mentioned tubular shaft 19 and for the' purpose later on explained. The inner ends of the longer arms 58 are pivotally connected to radial feathering rods 63 having operative connection at 64 to elbow members65 securely mounted centrally of each of the aforesaid spaced rollers 50, 50 and 50 and it will be clearly understood that as the'said radial feathering rods 63 are inwardly or outwardly drawn they willeffect a partial rotation of said rollers 50, 50 and 50 with a consequential opening "or closing of the wings or vanes 51 as can be readily seenon an examination of Figure 1 more particularly. Front tie-rods or bracings 66 connect from the forward outer ends of the aforesaid arms or spokes 47 into holes 67 in the front hub 43 where they are appropriatel-y'secured in any of the well known fulcrumed at 72 on the brace 69, the other arm 73' ofsaid cranked lever being pivotally connected to: one end of a link 74, in turn connecting at '7'5 with a weighted lever 76 rockingly mounted at 77 on'an upright or bearing 7'8 carried by the aforesaid turntable .or main frame 15. This weighted lever has pivoted thereto the upper end of a connecting rod or rods 79, .the lower end or ends .whereof have similar connection with a sleeve or collar 80 provided with ball bearings-8 1 and adapted for vertical movement .of an inner ,.tubular bearing 82 supported by a crossframe 83, and in which the aforesaid vertical shaft '26 freely rotates. Adapted to straddle the sleeveor collar 80 is a yoke or apertured member 84+-Eigures 7 and 8- having inset anti-friction rollers 85 for engagement with the upper and lower flanges 86 of the aforesaid slidable sleeve 80 and said yoke orapertured member 84 is hingedly connected at one end 87 to one of the columns 11 whilst the other end -88I-has at-' or arresting means-not shown; Thus it will. be readily seen that when a downward pullis exerted onthe cable or chain 89 by turning the drumKSOin a clockwise direction, the yokes. orapertured member 84 will cause the ,sleeve or collar 80 to be drawn in a downward dire tion thereby exerting a 131111 on the rod or rods 79 which will rock the weightedfllever .76,o n-its pivot 77 in an upward direction asshown by the dotted lines in Figure l. Simultaneously there will be an upward pullon the link -74 which will rockthe. cranked Tor angle lever 7173 on its pivot 72 -and thereby forcing the solid shaft 62 axially forward oroutwards rela- This dotted line position at the right hand ofsaid ,figure, whereupon the 1onger,.arms...58 .ofsaid angle levers will exert an inward radial pull on all-of the feathering rods 63. These feathering rods 63 will in turn through the elbow members rock all the rollers 50, 50 and 50 partially and synchronously about theiraxis whereby the wings or vanes 51 will be feathered or deflected to the requisite extent.

deem f primary importance as by its simple constructlon and posltlve actlon I am enabled to accurately adjust the power producable by myimproved windmill. Obviously on releasing the pull on the flexible cable or chain 89the solid shaft 62 will be drawn in a reverse direction or towards the lefthand of Figure 1 lever 76...

This uniform and synchroniz} rug-movement of the wings or vanes 51 I by the action of the weighted From the foregoing description and a careful examination of the drawings it will be easily seen that by my invention '1 provide an extremely simple and efficient windmill or power generator which when once adjusted may be safely allowed to continue working without any appreciable attention for lengthy periods of time, and the numerous uses to which it ran be applied in practice are too numerous for enumeration here beyond stating that an lnstallation on the lines hereinbefofredescribed can be very appropriately erected on the deck of a river houseboat or light aircraft asby attaching a screw propeller to the power take-off shaft 36 it will beobv-ious said craft can be easily propelled. Onthe other handa windmill or I power generator of the I type disclosed -may be coupled up or connected-to a-dynamo electric generator, var ous forms of machinery,

.presses, pumps andother power ractuable mechanisms without in any way departing from its essential features or method of operation.

,lVhilst I have shown and described the best form of the invention at present known to me ,lwish it clearlyunderstood that the same is not to be construed restrirtedly as itwill be obvious that many changes in the several details and other combinations and arrangements of the several parts can be readily effected without departing from its true essentials and it is hereby intended to include all such reasonable changes and other forms thereof as fairly lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention. what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters "Patent is:

1. In a wind actuated power produc ng .mcchanism the combination of a supporting framework surmounted by an annular track, a turntablerotatable on said track-by means ofamill vane, av horizontal tubularshaft r0- tatable in bearings on said turntable, aninner shaft longitudinally movable in said tubular shaft a wind-wheel attached on the outer end of said hollow shaft and "includsaid spaced hubs, angled levers pivoted about the perimeter of the outermost hub and having all their arms on one side of their pivotal points operatively connected toelbow members on the axes of the wingplanes, a collar on the inner shaft in operative engagement with the other arms of said angled levers whereby they are simultaneously rocked to efl'ectthe angular deflection or opening outwards of said wing vanes, means for automatically closing said wing vanes,

.and manually operable means for effecting the outward movement of the aforesaid inner shaft.

2. In a wind. actuated power producing.

mechanism the combination of a supporting frame work surmounted by an annular track, a turntable rotatable on said track by means of a mill vane, a horizontal tubular shaft rotatable in hearings on said turntable, an inner shaft longitudinally movable in said tubular shaft, a wind -wheel attached on the outer end of said hollow shaft and including a series of interconnecting tangentially pivoted wings of concavo-convex cross section, said wind-wheel comprising an inner and outer spaced hubs, the inner hub including a series of radial arms between which the aforesaid wings are 1ournaled, means for bracing said arms together and to the aforesaid spaced hubs, angled levers pivoted about the perimeter of the outermost hub and having all their arms on one side I of their pivotal poin'ts operatively connected to elbow members v on the axes of the wing planes,,a collar on the inner shaft in operative engagement with. the other arms of said angled levers whereby they are simultane ously rocked to effect the angular deflection or opening outwards of said. wing vanes, a collar on the inner endof the longitudinally .movable shaft, a weighted lever fulcrumed on the turntable and having operative connection with said collar by means of a link and angled yoke, and manually operable means for raising the aforesaid weighted lever to effect the longitudinal outward movement of the inner shaft to deflect the coneavo-convex wings. 4

3. In a wind actuated power producing mechanism the combination of a supporting framework surmounted by an annular track, a turntable rotatable on said track by means of a mill vane, a horizontal tubular shaft rotatable in bearings on said turntable, an inner-shaft longitudinally movable in said tubular shaft, a wind-wheel attached on the outer end of said hollow shaft and inoperative engagementwith the other arms of said angled levers whereby they are simultaneouslyrocked to effect the. angular derlection or opening outwards of said wing vanes,a collar on the inner end of the longitudinally movableshaft, a weighted lever fulcrumed on the turntable and havingjoperative connection with said collar. by means of a link and angled yoke, a shaft rotatable by the aforesaid tubular wind-wheel shaft, a sleeve longitudinally movable on the first mentionedshaft, means connecting said sleeve with the aforementioned weighted lever,'a pivoted yoke member having an anti-friction connection with the sleeve, and means for oscillating said yoke whereby the weightedlever israised to'effect the longitudinal movement of the inner shaft and thereby deflect the concavo convex wings simultaneously in the wind-wheel.

4-. In, awindmillincluding asupporting frameworksurmounted by an annular track,

a turntable rotatable on said track by means of a mill vane, a horizontal tubular shaft rotatable in bearings on said turntable, a wind-wheel attached to the, outer end of said hollow shaft and including a series of H interconnecting tangentiallypitvoted,

, wings of concavo-conv'ex cross section,-means for [effecting the angular deflection of-said wings, and gravityfallmeans-for returning said wings to normal position, the combina tion of a power-takeoff mechanism including a shaft driven from the aforesaid tubular shaft and having a gear thereon, diametrically opposed auxiliary shafts each of which may be driven by theaforesaid gear when coupledthereto, and a powershaft rotatable by either of said auxiliary shafts whereby'provision is made for re .versing the direction of drive.

5. Ina windmillineluding a supporting framework surmounted by an annular track, .a turntable rotatable on saidtra'ck by means of a mill vane, a horizontal tubular shaft 7 rotatable in bearings! on said turntable, a wind-wheel attached to the outer end of hollow shaft andfincluding a series of interconnecting tangentially pivoted wings of concave-convex, cross" section, means I for effecting the angular deflection of said wing vanes, andgravity fall means for, returning said wings to normal position, the combination of a power take-off shaft including a vertical shaft driven from the aforesaid tubular shaft andhaving a gear thereon, diametrically opposed auxiliary vertical shafts either of which may be driven by the aforesaid gear when coupled thereto, a

power shaft rotatable by either of said auxiliary shafts, and clutch mechanism for coupling up or disconnecting each of said 10 auxiliary shafts whereby the direction of power drive may be reversed.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

, POLIKARP MELNIOK. 

